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To Express the Ineffable
The Hymns and Spirituality of Anne Steele
Studies in Baptist History and Thought
Imprint: Wipf and Stock
Anne Steele (1717-1778) was one of the most well-known and best-loved hymn-writers of the eighteenth century, and her hymns remained exceedingly popular until late in the nineteenth century, being reprinted regularly in hymnbooks throughout Britain and North America. She was the first major woman hymn-writer as well as the most popular Baptist hymn-writer in the history of the church. Despite this, she has been largely neglected as a subject of academic enquiry until now. This book aims to elucidate Steele's spirituality and to clarify her unique contribution to eighteenth-century hymnody. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, setting Steele's devotional expression in its theological, literary, and historical contexts, and providing comparison to other eighteenth-century figures. It uses archival sources to reconstruct her life and work, offers a close reading of her verse, and concludes that Steele made a significant and as yet underrated contribution to eighteenth-century devotional expression.
Cynthia Y. Aalders received her BSc from The King's University College, Edmonton, Canada, and her MCS and ThM from Regent College. She currently lives in Vancouver, and is Director of Admissions at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada.
'This book explores an aspect of church practice - hymnody - that is only now being examined as a primary source for the study of ordinary people's religion. It is carefully researched, well written, insightful, and it explores a topic that is timely and rich.'
-- Edith Blumhofer is Professor of History, Wheaton College, Illinois.
'Cindy Aalders has written an excellent book on the hymnody (and the person) of Anne Steele, the pioneering female hymnwriter of the eighteenth century. Steele's difficult life, her doubts and struggles of faith, her evocative use of language, and her commitment to the glory and grace of God are main themes in this study. Aalders' fresh treatment is marked by spiritual discernment, theological precision, and much human sympathy.'
-- Mark A. Noll is Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana
'This book offers many insights for the historian, the literary critic, and the student of Christian spirituality, but even more, it conveys something of the humility and grace of Anne Steele herself, whose faith was profound but never triumphalistic. If this book helps to revive scholarly interest in the life and work of Anne Steele, it will have performed a valuable role. If it inspires readers - as I think it should - to turn to Christ himself as refuge of their weary souls, it will have done even more.'
--D. Bruce Hindmarsh is James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada